Why the potholes in our roads have reached crisis point

Written By Ginny Buckley | 28 March 2017

Time is running out for our roads, here's what you need to know about potholes...

One in six roads in the Britain are in such poor conditions that they will not be fit for purpose in five years time. There are 37.1 million cars on UK roads, according to Statista, that's a lot of infrastructure to maintain!

We need £12bn to fix all of our roads according to a survey by the Asphalt Industry Alliance. Local authorities fix a road in Britain every 19 seconds according to the Local Government Association but with funding cuts it's getting harder to maintain 'our crumbling roads'.

Potholes are the bane of UK motorists' lives - they often creep up and surprise us, causing untold damage to our cars. It is estimated that potholes cause as many as one in 10 mechanical failures on roads in the UK, costing motorists around £730 million every year.

Alan Mackenzie, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) commented, 'prolonged under investment, coupled with wetter winters, increased traffic and an ageing network, means that the resilience of our local roads is at a low point. Clearing the maintenance backlog is impossible without a significant increase in funding.'

Here's what you need to know about potholes, how to report them, and how to claim according to GH Motoring Editor Ginny Buckley:

1. Don't fester, get even - report the pothole so it can be fixed. The free RAC Report Pothole App makes it easier to take action. Download it to your phone now!

2. If your car is damaged by going through a pothole, put in a claim! Local councils paid out in just 25% of all claims but it’s worth making one if your car is damaged as this figure varies around the country. The RAC Foundation say that Bury paid out in 88% of cases, while 21 councils paid nothing at all.

3. If you hit a pothole, gather evidence and keep a record of the place, road name, direction of travel. If it’s safe take photographs of the pothole, adding an object like a shoe or plastic bottle to give a sense of the scale.

4. Remember you can only claim for the damage caused by the pothole so ask your mechanic to put this in writing for you and keep a record of any repair costs.

5. Put your claim in to the right place, Highways England are responsible for motorways and major A roads, the local councils look after local roads, B roads or smaller A roads.